The responsibility for employee benefits, including retirement preparedness, rests with Human Resource (HR) functions. Unfortunately, many HR professionals are unwittingly providing a disservice by not addressing the non-financial aspects of retirement for their 50+ workforce, and in the process, setting many retirees up to fail on several fronts.

First, corporate retirement programs tend to overemphasize the positive aspects of retirement. They imply that life in retirement will be better, simpler and easy: That their work hours will be replaced with rounds of golf, walks on the beach, time with the grand kids and space to learn a second language or write that children’s book.

But there is nothing automatic or easy about retirement. It doesn’t just magically unfold. Employees nearing retirement have to learn new skills, adjust to a new schedule, find new motivations and create new habits. None of which is in that retirement brochure packet everyone gets, but never reads. That can cause some retirees to struggle with the transition and even regret their decision to leave—sometimes blaming their employer for “pushing them out while wearing rose colored glasses.”

We’ve all heard situations like this where a client complains, “They don’t want us old timers around,” or “They don’t care about anyone but themselves. I gave my life to the company and this is what I got.”

That’s not only bad PR for any organization, but it can also have a devastating effect on that former employee’s self-esteem. This can lead to a dark side of retirement that can include bouts of depression, use of drugs or alcohol to cope, and in the most severe cases, suicide.

Now I’m not saying it all falls on employers or advisors for that matter. Everyone plays a role in it. However, this should serve as a wake-up call to those who have the most influence over this group.

As these trends and new dynamics continue to play out, one of the likely outcomes will be turning the concept of retirement into a plural format. People won’t just retire once, they will retire multiple times from different areas of life. They will no longer see longevity or their careers in a linear format, and will be encouraged to use their financial resources to create the best possible life now, instead of just letting it just sit there with them in their rocking chairs!